One big thing needs to give between Braves and Cardinals

A pair of 2-1 teams will clash this week, as the St. Louis Cardinals will host the Atlanta Braves.

Between the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals, there is a very good chance one of them, possibly both, could be playing for an NL pennant this year.

Admittedly, this shouldn’t feel the least bit surprising. We are talking about two of the most storied franchises in the Senior Circuit. Over the last half decade, Atlanta and St. Louis have routinely fielded top-tier teams with serious title aspirations. Atlanta won a World Series two years ago, while the Cardinals are now over a decade removed since winning their previous one.

So with Atlanta holding the Washington Nationals to 19 hits in its 2-1 road series victory, as well as the Cardinals mashing the hell out of the baseball with an NL-best 41 hits vs. the Toronto Blue Jays, something has to give in this exciting early April series, right? So will it be the Braves pitching containing the Cardinals bats or will it be St. Louis lumber wreaking havoc on Atlanta arms?

One way or another, only one of these teams will feel great about themselves after this series.

Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals: Will good pitching defeat great hitting?

As a noted Braves homer, you might expect that I’d be leaning in that direction, but I do recognize the great product St. Louis puts out there on a regular basis. The fact they were able to handle a pretty good Blue Jays team for the most part at the plate is telling. When it comes to the Braves, I mean, we all kind of knew that Washington was going to be mostly dog food for another season.

I know that Atlanta will trot out there on Monday night the ageless Charlie Morton. We will know very quickly if we are getting Good Chuck or Bad Chuck from the rubber. If he pitches well, then it might give the Braves confidence to go out and split the next two games. Then again, after seeing Jared Shuster underwhelm in his Atlanta debut, I’m not overly sold on Dylan Dodd getting it done.

Conversely, I have to keep in mind that the Cardinals are also in the back-end of their rotation, too. Miles Mikolas was terrible in his season debut, but I would anticipate he will be much better on Wednesday night vs. … whoever in the hell replaces Max Fried in the Atlanta rotation for the time being. He is going on IL in a matter of days with a hamstring. Thus, all of my faith is in Morton now.

Frankly, I think the scales should be tipped in favor of the St. Louis bats. Even if Lars Nootbaar is banged up, the Cardinals still have the likes of Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, and good luck with that. Then again, the St. Louis pitching staff may not be as deep as the Braves. It also has to navigate a deep lineup that can put runs on the board. Also, we have two games of Night Braves…

Ultimately, I would personally be ecstatic if Atlanta took two-of-three from the Cardinals in St. Louis. We cannot get swept though, but I would not fall to pieces going 1-2 at Busch Stadium and returning to Atlanta for Opening Day with a .500 record of 3-3. There will be a game where it is the Braves’ day. There will be a game where it is the Cardinals’ day. The third shall be a test of mettle…

With it being at home, I expect for the St. Louis offense to continue to do what it does vs. Atlanta.